Oct. 26, 2008

Box Score

West Hartford, Conn. - Behind a career-high seven digs and six blocks from senior Jessica Graham (Easport, N.Y.), Stony Brook University's volleyball team swept Hartford, 3-0 (25-20, 25-17, 30-28), Sunday afternoon. With the victory, Stony Brook improves to 11-14 (2-5 America East) while Hartford moves to 5-20 (0-7).

Unlike the match on Friday between these two teams, Stony Brook started quickly Sunday, opening up a 7-2 lead on an ace from freshman Kelsey Sullivan (Hamilton, Va.). The Seawolves extended their lead to 11-3 before Hartford started to slowly chip away, eventually pulling within one at 18-17. Taking advantage of four attack errors by the Hawks, Stony Brook held on to win the first frame, 25-20.

The second set opened with back-and-forth scoring, before Stony Brook put together a 6-2 run to jump ahead 11-6. Once again Hartford battled back, pulling within one at 12-11. But the Seawolves attack was too much for the Hawks to handle, as Stony Brook converted on 50% of its attack attempts and eventually pulled away with a 25-17 win.

The final set was tight throughout. Stony Brook was leading for the majority of the frame, grabbing its largest lead at 20-15, following two Hartford attack errors. The lead would not last long, however, as Hartford stormed back, scoring seven of the next eight points to pull in front, 22-21. Sophomore Alicia Nelson (Apple Valley, Minn.) broke a 27-27 tie with a kill, only to have Hartford's Hallie Fullagar knot things back up with a kill of her own. A Hartford error allowed Stony Brook to regain the lead, and Nelson polished the match off with her seventh kill of the day.

Senior Gulce Nazli Dikecligil (Istanbul, Turkey) led both teams with 13 total kills, while Sullivan had a game-high 34 assists.

Stony Brook's next match will be at home on Sunday against Binghamton. The match is set to start at 1:00 p.m.